Monday, 8 February 2010

Transmittens - We Disappear (Wee Pop!)

It’s Monday morning, and nothing is right with the world. Except it wasn’t until I put The Transmittens’ ‘We Disappear’ on for the 50th time since it arrived late last week.

As ever, it’s always a moral dilemma whether you should actually open a Wee Pop! release, but you’re always glad you did. ‘We Disappear’ doesn’t mess about, and is far more immediate than last year’s ‘Our Dreams’. You could almost call it confident.

This time around Transmittens offer up some almost shoegazy, low-down-in-the-mix vocals to go with the drum machine and coy guitar lines. It’s a potent mix on songs like the dreamy ‘Holiday’ and ‘The Sea at Night.’

But that’s not say there aren’t any straight-down-the-line pop songs here. Hand claps are very much to the fore in ‘Places I’m Dreaming’ – a song which reminds me why those early Icicles records were so precious. See also ‘Hot Dog Suit’, which is just about the most summer-y song ever.

But – most marvellously – there are songs here that bring to mind the much-missed Pipas. Monday mornings are made for the likes of ‘Too Right to Sigh’, ‘Something Else’ and ‘Sometimes’ – both the sort of resigned pop that makes me feel there’s something out there worthwhile when you’ve got five days of drudge in front of you.

Wonderfully, ‘We Disappear’ ends with the poppermost ‘Blue Whale’, which will infiltrate your ever waking hour for at least ten days after you’ve listened to it.